Setting your browser homepage

About this article

This article includes instructions for setting your home page in several major web browsers. It is intended for all members of the WSU community.

Why set a browser homepage?

You probably spend a significant amount of time each day using a web browser. They are critical learning tools in your digital toolbox and can be personalized to meet your specific needs. Creating a personalized learning environment will help you find and use the information you need quickly. All major browsers allow you to personalize your browsing experience by changing the default homepage, or the page that's displayed every time you open your browser. When you install a new browser, a page associated with the company who built the browser will be set as your default homepage. You can change that to any page you wish. You can also configure your browser to load multiple pages as tabs across the top of your browser window. This is a real time saver if you have websites that you visit every day. Although it only takes a minute to type in the web addresses or select the sites from a list of favorites, these minutes add up.

Use WSU eHome

Consider adding the WSU eHome page as either your primary homepage or one of your home pages (e.g., on a second tab). There are separate eHome pages for students and employees which are custom-designed to provide you with campus news, calendar events, links to common campus resources, and links to Minnesota State services that you use regularly (e.g., timesheets, transcripts). These pages can also be personalized by adding links and news feeds. Note that access to these pages is restricted to those who have a WSU username and password. You will be asked to login with your WSU credentials the first time you access the eHome page and each time you change your WSU password. Also, some Minnesota State resources require you to enter your StarID. If you are ever asked if you want to setup Hassle Free Login, you can decide whether to opt into this feature at that point. If you decide to autologin, then you will not need to enter your StarID when accessing Minnesota State resources from the eHome page. For employees who use their StarID all the time, this can be a real time saver.

Setting your homepage

All four major browsers allow you to set a single homepage using a very similar process. Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome also share a common process for setting multiple homepages as tabs. For some unknown reason, Safari makes it a bit more difficult to set multiple homepages, but it can be done using a bookmarks folder.

Google Chrome

Open Chrome. If you have a Google account, login. When you make changes to your homepage settings, Google will save that information to the cloud. When you login to Chrome on another device, your homepages will be there.
Navigate to the page you want to set as your new homepage. You can open multiple pages, one on each tab, if you wish. This will allow you to open multiple pages, not just one homepage, when you start Chrome.
Select the Customize and control Google Chrome button.
Select Settings.
Under On startup, make sure Open a specific page or set of pages is selected. Select the Set pages link
On the Startup pages window, select the Use current pages button. You can also add a page by entering the URL manually.
Select OK

Mozilla Firefox

Open Firefox and navigate to the page you want to set as your new homepage. You can open multiple pages, one on each tab, if you wish. This will allow you to open multiple pages, not just one homepage, when you start Firefox.
Select the Open menu button and select Options
On the General tab, select Use current page button. The default URL will be replaced by the URL(s) of the page or pages that you have open in Firefox currently. You can also enter the URL of the site you want to set as a home page manually. If you add more than one URL manually, separate each using the "|" (pipe) symbol.
Select the OK button.

Internet Explorer

Open Internet Explorer and navigate to the page you want to set as your new homepage. You can open multiple pages, one on each tab, if you wish. This will allow you to open multiple pages, not just one homepage, when you start Internet Explorer.
Tap or click the Tools button
Tap or click Internet options.
On the General tab, under Home page, select the Use current button. The default URL will be replaced by the URL(s) of the page or pages that you have open in Internet Explorer currently. You can also enter the URL of the site you want to set as a home page manually. If you add more than one URL manually, put each URL on its own line.
Tap or click Apply (applies the change, but doesn't close the window) or OK (applies the change and closes the window).
The next time you open a new browsing session, your homepage(s) will be loaded automatically.

Apple Safari

Setting a single Safari homepage

Open Safari and navigate to the page you want to set as your new homepage
From the Safari menu, select Preferences
On the General tab, select the Set to current page button. The default URL will be replaced by the URL of the page that you have open in Safari currently.
Close the Preferences window

Setting multiple Safari home tabs

Open Safari, select the Bookmarks menu, and select Add Bookmark Folder. The Bookmarks Sidebar will open.
Type a name for your home bookmarks folder (e.g., "Home"). Press enter. Select the View menu and select Hide Bookmarks Sidebar.
Navigate to the page that you want in the first position of your list of home tabs.
Select the Bookmarks menu and select Add Bookmark. Make sure the Add this page to: is set to your home folder from Step 2. Select the Add button.
Repeat Steps 3 and 4 for every page that you want to set as a home tab
Select the Safari menu and select Preferences. Select the General tab.
Set Safari opens with: to A new window
Set New windows open with: to Tabs for [the name of your home folder from Step 2]
Set New tabs open with: to Empty Page
Close the Preferences window